Always one to deliver the unexpected, Gavin Turk's latest exhibition contains work made not by himself but rather by 35 prisoners across the UK who have pain-stakingly hand-stitched coloured letter squares that spell out Gavin Turk's name.

According to the Independent, the prisons who stitched Turk's artwork were part of a rehabilitation program that teaches needlecraft and they would spend an average of 20 hours a week doing embroidery in their cells for wages.

Turk said he was inspired by Italian artist Alighiero E Boetti who used craftspeople in Afghanistan to make his embroided works. "I'm trying to question our contemporary values about authenticity," Turk told the Independent.

Early on in his career, Turk was (now famously) denied his MA degree from the Royal College of Art - the first time that had ever happened - when his degree show presentation consisted of an empty white studio with a blue English Heritage plaque that read: Borough of Kensignton / Gavin Turk / Sculptor / Worked Here / 1989 - 1991."

Turk's exhibition featuring the prisoners' embroidery - Gavin & Turk - is on at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London W1 until 20 April.

See more of Gavin Turk's artwork here.

One of France's best-known young painters, Yassine Meknache, aka Yaze, has just released photos of his new canvas work, and gee aren't they something?










You can view more of Yaze's orginal paintings here.

They don't do things by halves in Qatar. The largest ever Takashi Murakami exhibition has opened at the Al Riwaq Exhibition Hall in Doha, Qatar, which includes more than 70 works of which 16 are brand new.

The exhibition is titled 'Ego' and even includes a giant six-metre high inflatable replica of the revered Japanese artist.

According to one reviewer who went along, the exhibition features the "usual eye-popping riot of cartoonish nightmares and psychedelic pop art" and also features new canvas work that clocks in at 100 metres!

Curator of the exhibition Massimillano Giono said at the opening, "For its scale and ambition it is an absolutely unique exhibition and one that could only be realised here in Doha, thanks to the commitment of the Qatar Museums Authority which has embraced the artist's vision with incredible generosity."

The exhibition is open until June 24.

We wish we were there.










For more Takashi Murakami artwork, click here.